Jinpei
Jinpei also known as Jinpei the Swallow is the Science Ninja Team's youngest member and the reconnaissance expert. He is the 'adopted' brother of Jun. Background Jinpei never knew his parents or his earlier life, but claims to be the last descendant of the Iga ninja clan. He was found by Jun as an infant in the mountains, and taken back to the orphanage she lived in. It was implied but was never really explored that he was the only surviving son of the Jupiter ninja clan's sensei. Eventually they came under the wing of Dr. Nambu to undergo training for Kagaku Ninpo. According to Fantastic Graphics TV Anime volume 3, Nambu did not intend on taking both children, but Jun insisted that he not split them up. Appearance Jinpei is average height for a child his age, and has wild brown hair. His civilian clothing usually consists of an orange-and-yellow T-shirt with the number 4 on it and a pair of blue-and-white striped bellbottom pants. By the time of the sequels, he wears a slightly different crew neck-styled "4" shirt, as well as a cap and blue jeans, which are held up by matching blue suspenders. His swallow-themed Bird Style is mainly yellow with red gloves and boots. It is adorned with a dark blue cape that is teal on the inside. His helmet is colored blue with yellow eyes and a red outline, with the visor being clear yellow, although the visor is colored a light teal in the two sequel series. OVA Jinpei's civilian clothing was updated and modernized for the remake, with him wearing a beanie and sweatshirt. His hair is also a bit curlier. His Swallow Bird Style was modified to be primarily red, with yellow accents and a purple cape. Rather than the "G" belt, he now has just the symbol worn at the center of the uniform. Cancelled Imagi Film Project Jinpei underwent a few possible looks for the film, one being loosely based off his OVA appearance and having his entire uniform with a red-and-gold color scheme. Other designs took from the NTT ads for inspiration, although they later went back to using his classic uniform. Personality Jinpei is cheery and excitable like most children his age, as well as mischievous. But, he is also very responsible, helping Jun run her snack bar, and supporting his teammates to the best of his abilities when needed. Relationships Jun Jinpei knew Jun when growing up in the orphanage and is as close to her as a sibling by blood, helping her run the Snack J. Jinpei also likes to tease Jun about her feelings for Ken. Ken Washio As Ken is his leader, Jinpei heeds Ken's every order and respects him. He is also close with Ken when not on the field calling him 'Aniki'. Weapons and Arsenal Fighting Style Jinpei's style of Kagaku Ninpo focuses mainly on stealth and incapacitating enemies as Jinpei's small body puts him at a disadvantage against enemies that are full grown. Weapons Bolas: Jinpei's primary weapon in the original series. They are usually used to restrain enemies. Rebound Ball: Jinpei's primary weapon in Gatchaman II. A super-ball projectile that is thrown from a shovel-like mitt attached to his left hand. Swallow Top: Jinpei's weapon in Gatchaman Fighter. A spinning top attached to a yo-yo like string. Unnamed hacking device: In the Gatchaman OVA, Jinpei had a device which he could use to hack into Galactor computers. The device had a collapsible screen,a gamepad-like button interface and transmitted data to Jinpei's helmet via a heads up display on his visor. G-4 Mecha G-4 Swallow Helico: A small VTOL aircraft used for recon in areas that the New God Phoenix cannot enter. It is presumed that it was destroyed along with the New God Phoenix in Gatchaman Fighter. Gatcha Four: ' Jinpei's mecha in Gatchaman Fighter. A large black and white land vehicle. One of the five vehicles that form the Gatchaspartan, it forms the central body of the ship. Appearances in Other Media Yatterman (2008) Jinpei first appears as part of an extended cameo with the rest of the team in the hour-long TV special "Episode 12.5". They show up to stop the Doronbo Gang from stealing a ring. He next appears in a crowd shot in episode 24, as people are lured in by the Doronbo Gang's scam. He is depicted sitting atop of Ryu's shoulders. Time Bokan: Royal Revival (1994) Jinpei, the rest of the Science Ninja Team, and Dr. Nambu all show up at Boyacky's restaurant in a flashback and eat without paying. He is depicted in his original series clothing, while the other men on the team have their Gatchaman II/Fighter designs. He later briefly arrives with the rest of the team for the battle against Sailor Mun Mun, but leaves, Jun stating that he got bored and didn't like that he didn't get to have any lines. Wonderful Tatsunoko Land (1999) Jinpei and the rest of the team made a brief guest appearance in this special. Alterations in English Adaptations '"Battle of the Planets" significantly altered Jinpei, renaming him "Keyop" and describing him as being a genetically-engineered clone child who was born with an unusual speech impediment. Keyop often stutters and makes whirring noises, only being able to stammer out a few words at a time. While he still appears to be watched over by Princess, one episode implies that the two don't live together, as Princess tells him "I brought you breakfast from my place!". Earlier plans for the adaptation had Keyop intended to be an alien child, with his odd stutter explained away as an alien accent. It was long assumed and rumored by fans that the speech impediment was done to censor Jinpei having rude language, however, the truth is that the producers wanted the child character to have a funny type of voice and Alan Young had improvised the unusual speech pattern. In addition, the uncut ADV dub and subtitle track show that Jinpei did not swear as much as he had been rumored to. "G-Force: Guardians of Space" has "Peewee", who is closer to Jinpei in characterization and attitude. An earlier pitch for "G-Force" had him renamed "David", although little is known about what his characterization would have been. He was renamed "Mickey Dugan" in "Eagle Riders", marking the rare time that he received a surname in an adaptation. Harmony Gold's dub of the OVA renamed him to be "Jimmy", although he was otherwise left intact aside from his Bird Style being referred to as "Falcon" instead of Swallow. Voice Actors Yoku Shioya was Jinpei's actor in the original franchise, while the role was given to Rica Matsumoto for the OVA remake (as it featured newer actors and Shioya was now too old to convincingly voice a child character). English Adaptations *Alan Young was the first actor to voice him in English, for the "Battle of the Planets" version. *Barbara Goodson voiced him in "G-Force: Guardians of Space". A rejected pitch pilot of "G-Force" had him voiced by an actor named John Ferguson. *Mona Marshall voiced him (as "Mickey") in "Eagle Riders", as well as voicing the role in Harmony Gold's initial dub of the OVA series. *Luci Christian provides Jinpei's voice in the ADV Films dub of the series and the Sentai Filmworks redub of the OVA. Trivia *While Jinpei's real birthday is unknown, it is celebrated on the day Jun had found him. *Jinpei's name comes from the uncle of Gatchaman's screenwriter Jinzō Toriumi. *Yoku Shioya was still a young adolescent during most of the anime and he entered puberty in the later stages, which is why Jinpei's voice is deeper in the final episode. By the time of the sequels, Shioya was twenty but continued to reprise his role. *The OVA mentions Jinpei has a special driver's license to drive his dune buggy. *Jinpei does not have a surname in the original series, and "Jinpei" was only a name given to him by Jun. However, the earliest planning materials for the series had him named "Jinpei Tsubakurou", his surname being patterned after the swallow. The live-action film continuity gives him the surname of "Ohtsuki". *The early materials had Jinpei intended to be the fifth-in-command on the team, and gave him a "5" on his shirt in the model sheets. * An alternative early design for Jinpei depicted his shirt as being two shades of orange and him wearing plain blue jeans, as well as sporting a yellow and blue baseball cap. * Tatsuo Yoshida is said to have modeled Jinpei after Guts Ishimasu, a Japanese comedian and boxer. External links *http://gatchonline.com/characters/jinpei.htm Category:Main characters Category:Gatchaman Category:Males Category:Heroes